A Lost Wealth: Angora Goat

Abstract

The Angora goat, which has a history deeply rooted in Anatolia, has been raised for centuries exclusively in the middle regions of Anatolia, especially in Ankara and the surrounding cities. The mohair that is produced from the Angora goat, too, has only been produced in this region. It has reported that there were approximately 1.500.000 Angora goats in the Ankara district in 1905 census. The mohair obtained from these goats was used to process Ankara cloth, socks, neck scarves and head scarves, and in the period between the 16th and 18th centuries, the mohair industry provided a wide range of jobs and income to the people of Ankara. This research was carried out in order to determine the records of Angora goats and mohair trade and to evaluate the results between 1800 and 1918. Related documents were obtained from the archives in Ankara, Istanbul, Konya and Manisa. With the expulsion of angora goat breeding to other countries starting from the middle of the 19th century in different ways, the economic loss in mohair trade has been felt intensely by both the people and the Ottoman administration. By the end of the 19th century, the okka of mohair fell from 50 kurus to 10 kurus. In this case, the prohibition of the export of Angora goat in various periods; and after many years of correspondence and efforts, in 1918, the Law on the "Prevention of the sale of breeding Angora goats abroad and its improvement" was adopted. As a result, despite the late preventions to revitalize the cultivation of Angora goats, an important source of trade for five hundred years in Anatolia has been lost.